LAWLER, Iowa -- When Don Blazek Jr. and the other Seed Solutions Group partners quickly organized a hail meeting for Friday morning, they were expecting 25. Twice that number showed up at Blazek's machine shed to find out what their options are after hail damaged an estimated 150,000 acres of crops late June 17 and early June 18.

Some crops between Lawler and Protivin and near Waucoma were damaged so severely that fields look bare.Tony Utley, an agronomist with Five Star Cooperative's Lawler branch, said hail damage stretches from north of Lourdes to Hawkeye in a band 25 miles long and 10 miles wide in Howard, Chickasaw and Fayette counties. The worst of the damage is in two, three-mile-wide and six-mile-long stretches, one northwest of Lawler and the other west of Waucoma.

"Damage ranged from total crop loss in the worst areas to moderate damage," Utley said. "Farmers will have to assess their crops to see if they can keep the stands or if they need to replant. This is the worst I've ever seen this early in the year, and it's the most widespread."

I haven't blogged much because we have been really fortunate to have had the time and conditions to get the crops in and pretty much everything was looking good — and a lot of it still is looking good. But, scouting fields just north of us that were in the way of a band of hail yesterday, just breaks my heart. Growers work hard preparing for a good crop, getting the seed in the ground and doing everything they can to nurture that crop, then they have to look at this...[North Central Iowa]

Whether you call it God, Mother Nature, or warm air rising, accumulating a sufficient amount of supercooled water in the clouds, forming ice that then falls back to the earth, it is a reminder that we are not always in control of our crops...

Ideal conditions?July 17th, 2009Paul Kassel...recently we had some hail events that have caused some major crop damage.There was a severe hail storm on July 7 that damaged crops south of the Royal/Rossie area. Thenon July 9, another storm damaged crops in the Terril area. Both storms damaged about 5,000 acres of crops. A lot of the corn in the heart of these damaged areas suffered a lot of stand loss and defoliation loss — so those corn fields have little yield potential. The soybeans are recovering to some degree. We have had fairly good weather for recovery of the soybeans. However, with the defoliation loss, node loss and stand loss — we are expecting about third of a crop of soybeans in the heart of the hailed areas.

Hail last Friday caused unprecedented damage to crops in northeast Iowa — from Howard to Dubuque counties — and producers are figuring out what to do next. Iowa State University Extension agronomist Brian Lang tells Brownfield that 400-thousand crop acres were hurt, 10 percent of which have been decimated. Corn in the area was in the tasseling stage, the absolute worst time, Lang says, to be hit by hail, "So, even these other areas that had less hail, if they're still looking at something like 75 percent defoliation — which is very possible over a large area of this damage — that easily cuts the yield by as much as two-thirds." Lang says the affected area has a lot of livestock and farmers can green chop some of the corn while figuring out other feed options. "If we can get a little off of that... We've still got time in August, here, for maybe a planting of a small grain like oats," says Lang.Lang says at least half of their feed is gone because of the storm, "There's areas where it looks like barren l
ands that are ready for some spring planting — is kind of what it looks like in some of these places."

Lang thought he'd seen the worst hail damage in the area last month when hail struck 100-thousand crop acres in Howard and Chickasaw County. But, last week's hail storm is, by far, the worst he's seen with Fayette County having the most acreage hit, where they're considering seeking government disaster aid. Lang advises producers not to touch anything until their crop insurance agents and hail adjustors have done their work.

The same storm system caused crop damage to about 20,000 acres in southwestern Wisconsin.

Best hope for hail-ravaged fields is a federal disaster declarationTuesday, August 4, 2009By Jean Caspers-Simmet

Agri News staff writer

WEST UNION, Iowa -- Northeast Iowa counties ravaged by hail July 24 will try for a federal disaster declaration.

Two storms pounded an area from Lime Springs to Cascade and then jumped the Mississippi River to hammer Wisconsin counties. Damage was reported in Howard, Winneshiek, Fayette, Clayton, Allamakee, Delaware, Dubuque, and Buchanan counties in northeast Iowa.

Corn was snapped to foot tall stumps in some areas.No-till beans had more corn residue from last year's crop than beans left in the field. Golden oats was smashed to the ground, and hay fields had nothing left. Hail as big as baseballs pummeled property.

"This was the mother of all hail storms," said Dan Burkhart, Fayette County Extension education director.

In 38 years on the job, he's never seen anything like it.[The familiar theme in 2009]

In Fayette County alone, 250,000 acres were damaged. Of that 30,000 acres were completely destroyed. Hail storms had already decimated crops from Waucoma to Hawkeye in June and east of Sumner July 10.

"Eighty-five percent of the crops in our county have been hurt by hail this year," Burkhart said. "Of that, 33,000 acres were completely destroyed."

The worst areas in Fayette County from this storm were north of West Union to Ossian and then northeast east of West Union toward Elgin and along Highway 56 toward Elkader.When hail decimated crops near Lawler and Waucoma in June, it was the worst Iowa State University Extension field agronomist Brian Lang had ever seen.

Until July 24.

"I've never really seen bad hailed corn at tassel state and I've never seen it this bad, this widespread," Lang said. "There were 400,000 acres damaged with 10 percent totally destroyed. Even for the crop that didn't get hurt too much, this came at the worst possible time, tasseling."

Lang said before farmers do anything, they need to check with their insurance agents and get their OK.

Livestock producers might be able to chop the corn and plant oats to get additional forage. Some might be able to start an alfalfa seeding depending on the corn herbicide they used."I've never seen a hail storm this big," said Julie Vulk, Farm Service Agency executive director in Winneshiek County and interim director in Fayette County. "It's just hard to wrap your brain around it."

Vulk estimated that 50 percent of farmers don't have insurance.[Ouch...]Affected counties are trying for a federal disaster declaration.

"We need help," she said. "If we get a disaster declaration there will be emergency loans."

Mike McCloud, Emergency Management coordinator in Fayette County, said supervisors in his county and surrounding counties will be approving disaster declarations early this week.

He estimates crop and property damage in Fayette, Winneshiek and Clayton counties is $170 million.Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey toured hail damaged crops in Fayette and Winneshiek counties."I've never seen hail damage so bad,"Northey said.

With dairy prices tough, some dairy farmers thought they were diversified enough that they could go without crop insurance, Northey said. They never dreamed they'd lose all their crops."This is just devastating," he said. "You look into the eyes of these guys right now, and it's hard. They're at a loss. Do you keep the cows around? It's an easier decision if you know you'll have $15 milk three months from now. There's no way to make folks whole. There are just too many dollars of loss."

Northey said the best hope is a federal disaster declaration, which would make low-interest loans available through the Farm Service Agency.

ELGIN, Iowa -- Kathy McMillan says she's willing to talk about the devastation caused by two hail storms July 24 because getting the word out will help her neighborhood.

The storms decimated crops, busted windows, ruined fences, pounded roofs, blew down trees and ripped siding off buildings in a swath that extended from Howard to Dubuque counties and then into Wisconsin.

"Henry will be 90 this year, and he has never seen anything like this,"McMillan said. "He remembers a little hail, but nothing like this. It's a complete loss of everything. It's devastating, unbelievable. The McMillans have 1,100 acres of crops and 85 percent of it is gone. The only ground that wasn't touched was near Elgin....McMillan and her neighbors suffered significant property damage. She had nine broken windows in her home.

"I was upstairs with my son's very hyper dog and I heard an explosion and we
started downstairs," she said. "We were pelted with hail in the hallway. We closed the door and came down to this level when my three bow bay windows exploded taking everything across the room. We tried to get to the next level with glass shooting past us."

Plywood covers the windows. The roof is damaged, and the machine shed is covered with dents. All the outside night lights and the mirrors on the tractor are broken. They had many cattle get out. Some they rounded up but others are still in the corn field too spooked for anyone to come near them.

"Luckily there was no loss of life and the only injuries in this area were a fractured hip and a fractured leg," she said.

McMillan is concerned about her neighbors. She knows dairy farmers who lost their crops and have no crop insurance.

"There are a lot of really good farmers who may not be here next year," she said. "It's breaking my heart."

Hail Ravages A Large Swath Of Iowa This Past WeekendFarmers can get answers about assessing and salvaging crops, making silage, harvesting issues, emergency forage and more from ISU Extension.Rod SwobodaPublished: Aug 11, 2009

On Sunday morning August 9, yet another severe storm with hail and high winds caused severe property and crop damage in North Central and Northeast Iowa. The hail trampled crops in fields in five counties along U.S. highway 20—from Webster and Calhoun counties, east to Hamilton, Hardin and Grundy counties. The storm trampled many corn and soybean fields with heavy damage and left many homes, businesses and automobiles with shattered windows.

This weekend's hail storm left many Iowa cornfields devestated.Damage in Hardin County alone is estimated at $25 to $30 million—and that's a conservative estimate, says Darwin Miller, the county Extension agent with Iowa State University. The hail has been called the worst in decades in this area.

Miller toured a 25-mile long, five-mile wide swath through which the late-morning hailstorm moved in Hardin County, from southwest to northeast. Miller says the majority of farmers carry some form or hail or crop insurance, but a storm like this one means a year without profit or capital for improvements.Crops this year are sheared off and shattered"We had a tough year here last year with the floods and the late plantings, and our yields weren't as good as normal," says Miller. "This year everything looked so good until this hailstorm hit. We were looking at yields of 180 bushels or better on corn and 50 bushel per acre soybeans, until this happened."

The path of the storm stretched all the way east to Independence in Buchanan County. Farmer Chuck Walters who works 800 acres of his own east of Eldora and also farms for other landowners, says, "You can't see a tassel now. I don't think there will be much to salvage in many of these fields around here."He says until Sunday morning August 9, his corn and soybean crops this summer "were absolutely perfect."

Miller, the Extension agent in Hardin County, says some of the corn crop that is standing or leaning might be salvaged, at least for silage. But the soybean crop was too immature to escape damage.This was the second major hailstorm to hit

Sunday's storm was the second major hail-related calamity to hit Iowa's crops this summer. Two weeks ago, on July 24, hailstorms hit approximately 400,000 acres in Allamakee, Clayton, Buchanan, Fayette and Winneshiek counties in northeast Iowa. ISU Extension field agronomist Brian Lang who serves this area says at least 10% of this damaged acreage has around a 100% yield loss.Other recent storm events have left smaller pockets of severe damage across the state.For example, hail also hit some fields in northeast Iowa on July 10. "Hail adjusters are reporting that some of these fields have been damaged by more than one storm this summer and a re-evaluation will be necessary," says George Cummins, ISU Extension field agronomist at Charles City.

''It's a real mess,'' he said.Northey said 10-foot-high corn west of Eldora had been sheared.''Now it's not even knee-high,'' he said.

Ray and Betty McDowell were attending church in Eldora when the storm hit. Ray McDowell, who farms east of Eldora, told The Des Moines Register he suspected the worst.''Most of the cornstalks were broken and the soybean plants were ripped apart, with the pods on the ground,'' McDowell said. ''I can't remember a hailstorm this bad for at least 20 years.''...Eldora-area farmer Gregg Reisinger told the Register that his soybean crop was a total loss, with about 500 acres of corn either damaged or destroyed.

''There's not much I can do except wait for the insurance adjuster,'' said Reisinger, who has farmed for 40 years and said he'd never had damage this bad.

On August 27, I had a chance to stop and see the hail damage at Pine Lake C.C. in Eldora. I have not seen hail damage like this in Iowa for more than 25 years.Here is a description from Supt. Daryl Clingerman:

On Aug 9th, Pine Lake Country Club in Eldora, Iowa was hit by a hail and wind storm. 12-14 minutes of sustained 2"-3+" hail driven by straight line winds with gusts over 100 mph. This caused extensive damage to turf, trees and structures alike.

The greens have since been cored aerated, heavily top dressed, and seeded to combat estimated 35% turf loss. Fairways, tees and collars will be seeded the first week of September. The course is closed indefinitely.

Wet weather and delayed soybean plantingMay 28th, 2009Palle PedersenRemembering last year, many Iowa soybean farmers are wondering whether this spring's rain has already delayed planting enough to hurt yield potential.Yes, it has but it's not yet time to worry. Right now we are not doing too badly, even though we haven't got a lot of work done this week. Currently, we have close to 90% of the corn planted and probably around 35% of the soybean planted.

...Cool wet conditions this year plagued corn in Iowa especially corn following corn... that is until Wednesday. Many articles in the Integrated Crop Management News - ICM - this spring highlight these issues. On Wednesday a change occurred. It was one of our first days with temperatures in the 80's coupled with high humidity....perfect for corn growth! The crop needed some sun and warm conditions to accelerate growth and that was happening!...But high temperatures and humidity also spell the chance for strong thunderstorms and associated high winds and hail.We've had it all across Iowa in the last few days. Strong winds either broke — greensnap - v7 to v8 or bent over corn in many locations. Pounding hail shredded tender plants. Devastation occurred in some fields.

Interesting July weather for NW IowaJuly 14th, 2009Joel DeJongUsually we are hoping for rain in July. I don't remember many years when we have producers hoping it stops! It is great to have moisture for most in NW Iowa, but I also know that there are problems out there related to these rain events - like hail loss, lodging, some green snap, and areas of saturated soils.

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Diseases showing up in some corn and soybean fieldsJuly 20th, 2009Clarke McGrathWith the wet weather we have had in much of the state this summer, it was bound to happen;areas of the state are starting to show some pretty good disease pressure. This entry isn't meant to spur a bunch of fungicide apps- but rather to get everyone out to do a little scouting. We want to spend that $25-30 per acre that fungicide apps cost wisely- put it where we need it and skip it where we don't.

Undoubtedly my colleagues on this blog will post more detailed reports and photos....These losses are devastating. Prior to the storm, the crop looked better than ever. Recovery of the crop - and growers- will be difficult.

Sunday morning a thunderstorm producing damaging hail started near Schleswig moving east, in the corridor between hwy 175 and hwy 20, to Eldora and Wellsburg. Severe damage occurred in a 2 to 3 mile wide stretch and lesser damage 6 to 8 miles wide. In my area the worse hit places were near Wall Lake, near Yetter and near Somer/Calendar. It is easy to see that there will be some fields, both corn and soybean, that will result in 100% yield loss.

The big news in central Iowa has been the very severe hail that occurred the morning of August 9th. The hail started south of Ida Grove and ran to Grundy Center. The storm path followed a corridor bounded on the north by U.S. Highway 20 and on the south by state highway 175. Although the damage varied by regions, damage along the center of the storm path was extremely severe. The crops in the center of the path were destroyed and damage along the margins of the storm path showed significant injury. ISU Extension hosted several meetings to discuss crop recovery, the potential for ear molds, and financial considerations. There were lots of interesting discussions about the potential for volunteer corn, lower test weights of corn, stalk rots, and ear molds.

No Dog Days of AugustAugust 24th, 2009Mark LichtAugust has not given us the dog days of summer that we are so used to. As a human I'll take that, but the crops really could use the heat, especially the soybeans. The crops in west central Iowa lot well and I expect the corn crop to reach the 194 bu/acre west central estimate put out by the USDA. I'm not as confident in the soybean estimate and therefore won't even state it. [I am not the only one doubting the USDA's numbers]I'm not confident in the soybean estimate because the soybeans have not had the heat units they would like, but also because there are a lot of fields that show are great deal of height variance. While soybean aphids have not been as problematic as last year, sudden death syndrome seems to have taken a tighter hold.There are many fields that are showing sudden death syndrome symptoms for the first time in 2009. Don't confuse sudden death syndrome with brown stem root; split the stems to get a positive confirmation of brown stem rot.

Soybean Sudden Death Syndrome widespreadAugust 24th
, 2009Jim FawcettSudden death syndrome (SDS) is much more widespread this year than last.You can find some SDS in most soybean fields now if you look for it, and you don't have to look for it to see it in many fields. 2007 was the last time we had SDS this widespread in the area. It is common along field edges where there has been extra soil compaction and in areas that were wet this spring.

SDS found in SW IowaAugust 24th, 2009Kyle Jensen...Sudden Death Syndrome is very evident in many of the soybean fields here. Small spots in the fields have now grown to larger areas that are very noticeable from the road. High yielding areas that are along end rows are the first areas I noticed SDS this year. Other areas that show signs are those areas where field traffic is heavy, grain cart paths and truck loading areas. SDS is favored by cool wet growing seasons, for some reason this sounds familiar. Foliar symptoms of SDS can also be confused with brown stem rot and stem canker. With brown stem rot the stem is all brown, with SDS the pith remains white. Nothing can be done about SDS now, management needs to be planned for next time these fields are planted to soybeans. SDS resistant varieties, delayed planting, earlier maturing varieties, reducing SCN, and alleviating compaction layers will be the best management for this disease.

Finally a few dry daysSeptember 8th, 2009Jim FawcettRains of 7-10+ inches last week caused flash flooding and some crop damage, but fortunately the canopy cover of the crops helped to reduce the soil erosion....The widespread sudden death as well as the soybean aphid problem will cut into the potential soybean yields. Very few fields are turning yet, except where the sudden death is present.

Fall is upon usSeptember 8th, 2009Mark LichtAs I mentioned in my last blog, we missed the dog days of summer. I now seems fall is upon us. The cooler weather the last couple of weeks has been good, right? For humans yes, for crop not so much.The corn is the best I've seen. I've been in fields where the primary ear has less than a half inch of tip back, girth is 18 around, and length is approximately 40. Doing the math, that makes for 250+ bushels per acre. I'm not saying that all fields are going to top 250+ bushels per acre, but there are definitely going to be good yields out there.I'm not so optimistic about soybean yields. Soybeans did get tall and lanky, but the height of the plant does not make yield. I'm not a pod counter, but by looking at the number of bean per pod I think yields will be pushing to get to trend line this year. I hope I'm wrong and soybean yields hit record highs, but I just don't think this year was perfect for growing soybeans.Now a report on how things look in hail country... it still don't look good. The white combine did some damage for sure. Some of the worst hit corn has been and is being salvaged for silage. It has dried down considerably faster than I had expected. This hail damaged corn is also fast approaching black layer; in fact I've heard reports in the Yetter area that some fields have already black layered. Molds and stalk rots are a reality. As the plant matured the stalk cannibalized itself to fill grain and damage to both the ear and stalk caused enough stress for disease pathogens to set in. Harvest in this area may be starting soon, but regardless of when harvest starts it will be ugly.

Harvest is underwaySeptember 25th, 2009Mark LichtHarvesting of corn that was damaged by the early August hail storm is underway. This corn matured early and with 80+*F temperatures it dried down very quickly. Yield vary so much that there's not much sense in talking about yields, but test weight and grain damage are notable. Test weight is running 42 to 49 pounds per bushel, grain damage is running 10 to 30 percent.Of course, the grain damage is a matter of how sieves and fans are set and the amount that is kept versus being blown out the back. Grain moisture is as low as 15 percent. Stalks are weak and lodging may appear if strong winds accompany any storms.

Away from the hail damage areas of West Central Iowa, soybean harvest is underway. There are a considerable number of soybean acres harvested. I have heard of moisture as low as 10%. Many yields are coming in the 45 to 55 bushel per acre range, but general consensus is that yields are slightly lower than expected. Shattering has been low thus far.

<
span lang="EN" style="color:#65944a;">Combines rolling in NW IowaSeptember 28th, 2009Joel DeJongThe soybean harvest has started in NW Iowa, and early reports are mixed to a little lower than hoped.It seems that most of the early bean reports I have heard are below what we harvested last year — maybe about 5 bushels per acre. I don't think many are surprised by lower yields, the cooler temperatures and very rapid dry down in September seemed to lead to lower node numbers and small bean sizes.

Are we having fun yet?October 12th, 2009John HolmesFarmers in central Iowa are harvesting soybeans when they can but most are focused on combining corn....This area was hit hard by the August 9th hail storm. In a matter of minutes the crop went from one of the most promising crops at the milk stage to shattered stalks and severely damaged ears. ISU Extension staff are tracking what kinds of molds and mycotoxins have developed in this corn.

The picture above is from a combine cab of one Iowa Falls farmer. He reminded me that a local weather station had recorded gusts of 102 mph and commented that it was pretty logical that the corn would lodge. He was struggling to stay on the row when this picture was taken. His yields we running in the mid-70 bushel per acre range but he has seen corn yields as low as 20 bushels per acre and as high as about 120 bushels per acre.I took a quick look at some of the ears, and yes, they did have some mold on them. I'm guessing they had gibberella ear rot and fusarium ear rot. The local elevator has been carefully screening incoming grain from the area for mycotoxins. Yes, they are finding mycotoxins, but I'm not sure of the levels. I'm certain some samples exceed tolerable limits. They are also tracking test weights and grain damage. The test weights are very low and the grain damage levels are pretty high.

NW Iowa crop (lack of) progress reportOctober 13th, 2009Joel DeJongIt's been a cold, wet and snowy beginning of October in the NW corner of Iowa. We progressed pretty well with the soybean harvest until the first of October, and only scattered combine activity has taken place since then. Maybe a third of the soybeans have been harvested here, and very little corn. We did see a few combines running on Saturday afternoon and Sunday — but not a lot. This activity created questions I have not heard for a long time — how do you dry down soybeans that are over 13%?

The University of Minnesota has a pretty good web page discussing "Soybean Drying, Handling and Storage" that addresses many of these questions. To learn about it, go to this web site. Progress has been slow, and patience might be wearing thin. But, what else can you do but wait? Yield reports seem to have a wide range to them, with a lot in the 50's, a few in the 60's and 40's, and an occasional report at the 70 range.Overall, my feeling from a broad area of reports would be that yields are a little lower than we got last year for many,maybe 5 bushels per acre[Funny, the USDA says Iowa yields will be 5 bushels per acre HIGHER this year]. However, it still seems like a pretty good bean crop.

July coldest everNo other July in Dubuque's recorded history has felt less like July than the one that ended Friday.

Hot and humid days were few and far between as the city set four records for cold high temperature en route to a preliminary monthly average temperature of 65.5 degrees -- the coldest on record. And these records go back to 1851.

2008 Production by county for Iowa

Notice that most of Iowa's soybean production happens in the northern two thirds of the state, especially in the NW corner of Iowa. So the area's devastated by hail are Iowa's most productive counties.

2008 Yield Per Harvested Acre by county for Iowa

Notice that yield distribution isn't even. So 45 bushels per acre can be an amazing or terrible yield, depending on location.

USDA 2009 Soybean Production and Yield estimates for Iowa

Iowa produces 15% of the US soybean crop.

Yield

Production

(Bushels per acre)

1000 bushels

2008

Nov est

2008

Nov est

Iowa

46.5

51

449,655

486,030

My reaction: Considering that Iowa was ravaged by hail in 2009 and that reported yield are down on last year, USDA production estimates for Iowa seem way too optimistic.

One Response to Hail Ravages Iowa In 2009

And China is buying so mich from USA and you wrote USA has problems of production:-

Nov 24, 2009 Soy imports continue into 2010

BEIJING - CHINA will retain its huge appetite for soy imports next year, and shipments may even eclipse this year's record, thanks to Beijing's pledge to keep shoring up local prices and a pick-up in soymeal demand.

Rising imports are already evident as the world's biggest soy importer has taken advantage of a record US harvest to book 15.84 million tonnes of new US soy, nearly twice as much as the 8.28 million tonnes booked by this point in 2008, US Department of Agriculture figures show.

The total is likely to be even bigger, at 18.36 million tonnes, traders calculated, assuming 70 per cent of 3.603 million tonnes going to unknown destinations was also booked by China.

'China's imports are growing not steadily, but forcefully. We will see large US imports flowing in in coming months,' said Liang Yong, an analyst with China Galaxy Futures Co. Ltd. 'Strong Chinese imports would still be a factor for speculation on the Chicago market.'

China's active purchases have already driven up Chicago Board of Trade prices to a 2-month high on Thursday, and China's demand helped lift US soy export sales last week to their highest in seven weeks.

Beijing tried to put the brakes on this year's surge of imports by offering subsidies to crushing plants in China's northeast to use local beans rather than imports. The offer will be extended for the new harvest, trading sources have said. -- REUTERS